Bhubaneswar: The negotiations for release of Italian Paolo Bosusco would take some more time since the Maoist mediators have placed some new demands, while the Odisha government was waiting for the kidnappers of tribal BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka to name mediators.
"The state government has received some additional
demands from mediators appointed by Maoists on the kidnapping
of Italian Paolo Bosusco.
They are being examined," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik informed the state assembly on Wednesday.
demands, the chief minister said, as their examination might
take a day or more, the negotiation between the three
government negotiators and two Maoist mediators might be
delayed for a brief period.
While the Maoists freed 61-year-old Italian tourist
Claudio Colangelo as a goodwill gesture Sunday, 54-year-old
Bosusco, his compatriot and Puri-based tour operator was still
being held captive. The two were abducted in Kandhamal
district on March 14.
The Maoist mediators B D Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty
had given a memorandum to the chief minister last night on the
Maoist demands based on issues related to policies and basic
problems of tribals.
Mohanty had said that Bosusco was in good health.
With the Maoists, which abducted 37-year-old Laxmipur
MLA from Koraput district on March 24, unwilling to have
mediators for his release, a senior official said "We hope the
Maoists will announce the names of their negotiators soon so
that discussion for Hikaka`s release can start."
The chief minister last night asked the ultras to join
the negotiation table to resolve the issue.
Though the ultras have placed a list of demands for
the release of the BJD MLA, the issues were complex which
would be difficult to resolve without a detailed discussion.
The Odisha government had confirmed that some Maoist
demands like halt to the combing operation and release of
jailed ultras had been conceded.
Patnaik had also said that cases against 83 activists
of the Naxal-backed Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS) had been
withdrawn.
PTI
